United States presidential election, 1888

The United States presidential election, 1888 was held on 6 November 1888. It saw the Democratic Party incumbent Grover Cleveland, running for re-election with Allen G. Thurman as his running mate, lose the election to Republican Party challenger Benjamin Harrison and his running mate Levi P. Morton. The election was decided by Cleveland's opposition to tariffs, arguing that they were unfair to customers; Harrison took the side of industrialists and factory workers who wanted to keep tariffs high. Cleveland also opposed American Civil War pensions and an inflated currency, earning him the scorn of veterans and farmers. Harrison won the election with 233 electoral votes to Cleveland's 168, despite only winning 47.8% of the popular vote to Cleveland's 48.6%.